The "Shoulder/Hips" unit, is basically the hips, the shoulders and the arms that has been formed into a fully twisted condition at the end
of the back swing movement and held together as a bonded one piece
unit.
This twisted condition of the body is a result
of rotating the compact upper body unit to the end of the back
swing whilst the heel of the left foot remains firmly on the ground.
The arms must be held close to the right shoulder during the down swing.
But importantly, the whole twisted unit must be maintained throughout the down swing and well into the follow through.
Exercise. (without
attempting the strike a ball.)
Beginning at the point when you have completed
the back swing movement, whilst holding the upper body unit at the end of the back swing position, simply rotate the hips towards the target
area whilst the upper body unit totally resists the hip movement.
This will eventually force the fully twisted body to follow, however you
will note that as the passive compact upper body unit is forced to follow, the shoulders simply rotate around the central core of the spine and automatically returns the club head to the ball
position whilst square to the target line.
This is easily done when there is no ball to
hit, so the skill is being able to keep the whole body in this
fully twisted, one piece unit throughout the down swing and into
the follow through movement and the only way to do this is to
continually practice the movement prior to striking the ball then
let the memory retention facility take over.
Therefore to explain the movement, as the shoulders reach
the absolute limit of the back swing movement, you must hold the
shoulders at the end of the back swing movement for as long as
possible thus creating a fully twisting effect of the whole body.
Therefore as the movement of the hips begin to rotate towards
the target area, the torsion of the muscles force the twisted
upper body unit to immediately rotate into the down swing movement.
Therefore the whole twisted body moves as one into the down swing
movement.
It is the skill of the golfer to ensure that the whole body
retains the fully twisted condition from the moment the down swing
movement begins, right through to the end of the golf swing movement
- this will give the golfer accurate shots and distance.
But the important point to make is that the hips must not be allowed to sway away from the original address position
at any point in the golf swing.
Whilst the golf swing is being performed, it is absolutely
vital that the left eye remains well behind the ball and also
that the upper body angles are retained, but importantly, it is
absolutely vital that you focus your eyes on the back of the ball
as the club head is swung into the contact area and actually
see the club head strike the ball.
All of these changes to your golf swing will not happen "overnight"
so remember, the more you practise a new movement, the more natural
the movement will become.
Sequence of Movements.
It is important to understand that throughout these two photographs,
the upper body unit, which includes the arms, whilst held together as
a solid one piece unit, are totally controlled by the rotational movement
of the hips, thus forcing the upper body to rotate into the down swing movement.
All of the upper body components are fully bonded together but in a passive condition and therefore
are being pulled/rotated g as a single unit
The golf club will lag slightly behind the movement of the
whole twisted body unit due to the inertia effect , but this lagging effect is an essential ingredient of
the whipping action.
But the over riding factor is that the hips must not be allowed
to sway away from the original address position as the golf swing
is performed.